Official Season Coming To A Close In Many Parts Of The U.S.
As the calendar gets closer to flipping to November and fall slowly morphs into winter, the official golf season in many parts of the U.S. is going into hibernation.
That means for many golfers, posting scores for handicap purposes will no longer be permitted, unless the golfer is playing in a region with a year-round active season.
A majority of state and regional golf associations in the U.S. are seasonal, meaning they permit posting of scores during a set period of time. Minnesota Golf Association’s season, for instance, runs from April 15 to Oct. 15. Alaska officially shuts down the last day of September, while warm locales such as southern California, Florida and Arizona have year-round seasons.
This doesn’t mean golfers can’t continue playing in regions that are seasonal. But the playing characteristics of golf courses severely change during winter months, impacting the USGA Course Rating™ and Slope Rating® Systems used to calculate handicaps and making it inequitable for golfers to post scores. The USGA leaves it up to each local authorized golf association to determine the active and inactive season.
To view your state/regional golf association’s season and handicap revision schedule, go to http://www.usga.org/handicapping/education/revision_schedule/Handicap-Revision-Schedule/.
For additional information on this topic, read “Active, But Inactive.”